Vascular lesions following radiation.

The special radiation sensitivity of the vascular system is mainly linked to that of endothelial cells, which are perhaps the most radiation-vulnerable elements of mesenchymal tissues. Within the vascular tree, radiation injures most often capillaries, sinusoids, and small arteries, in that order. Lesions of veins are observed less often, but in certain tissues the veins are regularly damaged (e.g., intestine) or are the most affected structures (i.e., liver). Large arteries do suffer the least; however, when significant damage does occur in an elastic artery (e.g., thrombosis or rupture), it tends to be clinically significant and even fatal. Although not always demonstrable in human tissues, radiation vasculopathy generally is dose and time dependent. Like other radiation-induced lesions, the morphology in the vessels is not specific, but it is characteristic enough to be often recognizable. Vascular injury, especially by therapeutic radiation is not just a morphologic marker. It is a mediator of tissue damage; perhaps the most consistent pathogenetic mechanism in delayed radiation injury.